Bhopal, April 09 (Pervez Bari): The towering personality of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of Independent India, was laced with head and heart qualities of a thinker, philosopher, writer, educationist, preacher, freedom fighter, patriot, visionary etc.
If these invaluable traits ingrained in a person, who led India’s freedom struggle from the forefront along with Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel etc., are imbibed and replicated in this era by the young generation on whose shoulders would lie the reins of the country then the problems afflicting countrymen could be solved to a great extent.
Maulana Azad passed away 52 years ago leaving behind an indelible impression of his vision and clarity of thoughts on the minds and hearts of the people in his era which if revived today can do wonders for the crisis-stricken society and help in building an exemplary Indian nation.
The above thoughts were expressed by Prof. Haider Abbas Rizvi, ex-Head of the Urdu Department in local Saifia College, on Monday in his presidential address in a seminar organized on “Relevance of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s Thoughts & Contributions in Modern Times”. The seminar was organized under the aegis of College of Teacher Education, Bhopal which is affiliated to the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, (MANUU), Hyderabad. Dr. Mohammad Saheel Khan, the organizing secretary, in collaboration with other members of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the college put in untiring efforts to make the seminar a great success.
The first session of the seminar was presided over by Prof. Rizvi while the second session was presided over by another Urdu litterateur Mr. Naseem Ansari of MHK Institute, Bhopal. Mr. O. F. Khattani, president of Madhya Pradesh State Officers Association, delivered the inaugural address. An exhibition on life and works of Maulana Azad with some rare photographs and sketches of his portrait were put up by the students of the B. Ed. college on the occasion.
Prof. Rizvi, while lauding the seminar as the need of the hour, appreciated the papers presented in the seminar. He hoped that the B. Ed students of the college present on the occasion would make Maulana Azad as their ideal and emulate him in their practical life.
Earlier, the Principal of the college Prof. Mahmood Siddiqui while welcoming the guests threw light on the objectives of the seminar. At the outset Hafiz Masroor Khan recited verses from the Holy Qur’an. The vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Mohammad Suhail Khan. The proceedings of the seminar was conducted by Dr. Sajid Jamal with aplomb.
Those who presented papers in the seminar included: “Tahreek Azadi Mein Maulana Azad Ka Kirdar” by Mr. Khalid Abidi; “Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s Role in the Reform of Education” by Prof. J. S. Grewal; “Maulana Azad Ka Sciency Mizaj” by Dr. Mohammad Ahsan; “Maulana Azad Ki Adabi Khidmat” by Ms Nusrat Mehdi; “Maulana Azad Ki Shaksiyat Ke Roshan Pahlu” by Prof. Tahira Abbasi; “Maulana Azad Bataur Sahafi” by Arif Aziz; “Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and National Education System” by Ms Sheeba Hasan and “Taleemi Daere: Maulana Azad Ka Tasavvur-e-Ilm” by Dr. Talmeez Fatima Naqvi.
Mr. Naseem Ansari speaking on the occasion lauded Maulana Azad’s intellect and visionary thinking and said the great freedom fighter was dead against the bifurcation of India to form Pakistan. To avert the division of the country the Maulana tried his level best but when on one hand Muslim League was hell bent for the partition while on the other a large group in the Congress party was also in its favour. On the basis of religion countries do not come into existence as Pakistan which was formed in the name of Islam could not hold together and later split into two in the name of language. Thus, religion could not stop the birth of Bangladesh. This is all history now, he remarked.
Mr. Ansari opined that the formation of Pakistan could not come up to the expectations of the Indian Muslims as those who migrated from India are still called “Mohajirs” (refugees) and continue to face many problems there. He hailed the organizers for holding such a valuable seminar to understand the multi-facet personality of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
Prof. J. S. Grewal in his paper entitled “Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s Role in the Reform of Education” said Maulana Azad was a great educationist too. His standing as an outstanding scholar of Oriental learning was demonstrated in moulding the educational system of the country in the immediate post-independence years. As the Minister for Education he insisted that both the Union and the States must share responsibility in promotion of education. He appointed the University Education Commission, (UEC), in 1948 and Secondary Education Commission, (SEC), in 1952. Between 1947 and 1958, on his initiative the budgetary allocation for Education was raised fifteen fold, he pointed out.
Prof. Grewal said Maulana Azad gave expression to his educational philosophy and interpretation of the issues of late 1940s and 1950s through his address delivered to the Central Advisory Board of Education, (CABE), where reports of University and Secondary Education Commissions were discussed. The results of these Commissions resulted in the establishment of University Grants Commission, (UGC), and All India Council for Secondary Education.
He said that Maulana Azad at a meeting of CABE held in February 1954 had pointed out that Secondary Education cannot serve the need of the country till it is recognized. Basic Education had been accepted as a pattern of elementary education with Craft-Centered Approach. The SEC had suggested 5+3+4 pattern of education. The recommendations were placed before a committee which was set up by the CABE to process this report.
Prof. Grewal said that Maulana Azad brought about reform in higher education through the UGC which he established in December 1953. The UGC was perceived to be an agency through which all the reforms could be carried out. He appointed a Committee of Vice Chancellors to process the recommendation of University Education Commission. The four major reforms put forward by the committee included: (a) An improvement in the pay scales of University teachers; (b) The provision of Government loans to the students; (c) Greater emphasis on tutorials as opposed to lecture method of instruction and (d) The provision of merit scholarship to students.
Maulana Azad also felt that unless the school students, who feed the Universities with students have good background, University education will remain unsatisfactory. He did not approve “over religiosity” of the people and also extreme “fanaticism” which characterized thinking of many people in those days, he added.
Dr. Mohammad Ahsan, Regional Director of MANUU, Bhopal Centre, while presenting his paper titled “Maulana Azad Ka Siency Mizaj” said that when Maulana Azad on the insistence of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru took over the responsibilities of the Union Education Ministry the countrymen were taken by surprise as this freedom fighter, cleric, linguistic, litterateur and journalist also has the scientific temperament.
Dr. Ahsan opined that to lace this Education Ministry with modern technological demands and bring India at par with the developed countries of the world a brain with such far-foresighted vision was needed. Thus, education is the department which is responsible to build a strong nation and goes a long way to brighten up the future of the people of any country.
He said that immediately after taking over the charge of the Union Education Ministry he paid special attention on technical education and included basic education along with science education into National Education System of the country.
He pointed out that many projects were taken up during his tenure as Union Education Minister from 1947-58 such as opening of National laboratories, National Archives, national libraries and Department of Archaeology etc. He assisted Pandit Nehru in setting up the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and many a chain of Science Laboratories in India. (pervezbari@eth.net)